Colombia peso slips after unexpected rate cut

LOS ANGELES (MarketWatch) -- Colombia's peso slipped against the U.S. dollar on Tuesday following an unexpected interest-rate cut by the Colombian central bank late Monday. The rate was cut to 3.5% from 4%, and analysts surveyed by Dow Jones Newswires had expected the rate to be held steady. The move is aimed at helping the economy recover and at offsetting pressure from a reduction in trade activity with Venezuela, said Jose Dario Uribe, head of Colombia's central bank, following the decision. "The deciding factor behind the cut may have been much weaker than expected retail sales data in September," when sales fell 7.3% on a year-over-year basis compared with a 0.9% year-over-year decline in August, said Win Thin, senior currency strategist at Brown Brothers Harriman, in a note Tuesday. In recent trade, one U.S. dollar purchased 1,968.50 pesos compared with 1,963.63 pesos on Monday.

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